172 STATE OP RRODB 1sLAJm AND PaovmBNCB PLANTATION&. CoDBtitution, elected senators to Congress, and ratified eleven of the twelve amendments previously proposed by Congress. The proceed­ ings of the session, instead of concluding with "God save the State". 88 bad been the custom of the put year, were DOW ended with "God save the United States of America". Rhode uland was at last within the Union. CHAPTER XVII.1 THE ADIIINISTRATION OF THE FENNERS, 1'790-1811. The entry of Rhode Island into the Union through the adoption of the constitution may properly be considered 88 the beginning of a new era. During the colonial period it had enjoyed a greater measure of liberty than any of the other English' settlements, although ita inde­ pendent existence bad been often seriously threatened by the territo­ rial claims of its colonial neighbors. Although the boundary line be­ tween the state and Massachusetts was not clearly defined at all points, its territorial rights had long been acknowledged, and very little change was henceforth to be made in its geographieal limits.1 The people of the state were mainl)F engaged in agriculture and commerce, but were just beginning to take an interest in manufactures. The soil of Rhode Island 88 a whole has always been considered as sterile, but certain sections of it, especially its islands, are fertile, and at the time under consideration considerable quantities of butter and cheese, pro­ nounced of excellent quality, were exported to the neighboring colo­ nies. 118 fine breeds of cattle and sheep had also obtained a reputation I Beginning with this ohapter the writer wishes to aclmowledge the effioient 888istance of JOIIiah B. Bowditch. Up to this period it bas been somewhat un­ DeoeIIIaIY to mention matters of minor importance, since Governor Arnold's comprehensive history of the state 80 fully covers all events. But from this date of 1790 until the close of the 19th centory, we have no detailed 8COOunt of the state's history. For this reason, therefore; the subject henceforth &lBUlD88 rather the fonn of annals. As we approach, furthermore, the history of the pre88Dt time, it becomes more difficult to form historical judgment. It is bet­ ter to give the plain, unvarniah8d narrative of events, leaving to the writers of the future the deduction of motives and the torming of opinion. tIn 1882 Fall River, Rhode Island, which, in 1790, was the northerly portion of the town of Tiverton, was transferred to :H8888Chusetts, while Rhode Island received compen.-tion by the annexation of the :H888&Chusetta town of Paw­ tuoket, and the westerly portion of Seekonk. The latter is now the populous town of East Providence; the annexed Pawtucket now forma that portion of the present city of Pawtucket whioh lies east of the Seekonk river; while the town whioh Rhode Ialand 1<J8t in 1869 is DOW that portion of the Pl'8l8llt city of Fall Rioyer whioh lies east of )fount Hope bay. 'raE ADJrDNlSTRATION OP THB FENNERS, 1790-1811. 278 outside of its borders, and were exported in considerable numberR. Thia little state, scarcely larger in area than Greater London, is now JlIore than seven times 88 populous as it was in 1790, yet this great gro\vth is al.lI08t entirely due to the development of its manufactures. Its farming interests may be considered to have been fully developed when the first Federal census was taken, and it is reasonable to believe that the farms as a whole were as well-tilled then 88 they now are, and that, outside of the sections where the cities 8,nd growing villages have encroached upon the country, the wooded area of Rhode Island is no sDlaller now (1901) thaD it was in 1790.1 The change from the loose union of the thirteen states, which had existed during and since the Revolution, to a strong, responsible Fed­ eral government, wa8 8 radical one, and although they had all finally accepted the new order of things, their adjustment into the Union, involving, 88 it did,many radical changes, could not be effected without 8010e degree of friction. No other of the original states as British colonies, and none of the ne,," Rtates, except Vermont,1 enjoyed; prior to their entry into the Union, so large a measure of independence as did Rhode Island. In adopting the constitution it had to surrender more of its individual authority than did any of its sisters, and it naturally hesitp,ted the longest before taking the final step. Immediately after the adoption of the constitution by the state, on June 14, 1790, Congress passed an act extending over Rhode Island the provisions of the tariff act of July 4, 1789, the tonnage act of July 20, the act to regulate the collection of customs and tonnage duties, passed July 31, and the registry act of September 1, 1789. The state was divided into two customs districts, those of Newport and Provi- I West Greenwich had 2,064 inhabitants in 1700 and but 606 in 1900; Little Compton, 1,542 in 1790 and 1.182 in 1900; Foeter, 2,268 in 1790. and 1.151 in 1000; Charlestown, 2.022 in 1790, and 975 in 1900; Exeter, 2,485 in 1700, antl841 in 1900; Riohmond, 1,760 in 1890. and 1,506 in 1900. A ooreful oOlllpari80n of the population figures of the remaining towns antI cities of the state for the two periods leads to the conolusion that the fanning population of the state is no larger DOW than it WBH in 1790. In examining the details of the ceDSUS of 1790. however. it is well to understand that the 8CCUf8CV of ROme of the returns is doubtful, &8 many citizens in the agrioultural towns declined to give the re­ quired infonnation, looking upon the inquiries as an attelliptof the general gov­ ernment to interefere in theIr domestio affairs (See II 1. 0MaI1u Report, 1885, page 880). The total population of the state, 88 given in 1790 was 68,825. That of 1800 was only 69,122, altbough Providence and two or three of the otber toWD8 bad made large pins during the decade. The IDOBt noticeable fact in the census is the dwindled population of New:port. In 1774, when the last colonial census, before the begtnning of hostilitIes, was taken, Newport COD­ tained 9,209 and Providence 4,821 inhabitants. The terrible effects of the Revo­ lution upon Newport 80 Inuch affected population that in 1790 that town oon· tAined but 6,716 inhabitants, while Providence had increased to 6,aso. t Vermont declared its independence and adopted a constitution on December 23,1777, and from that date until its entry into the Union. in 1791, was abso­ lutely independent of outside control. 18-1 2'14: STATE OF RBODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS. dence, which were constituted ports of entry, and each given a col. lector, naval officer, and surveyor. There were also to be six surveyors for the seven ports of delivery, one of whicb-Pawtuxet-was in the Providence district, and the other six-North Kingstown, East Green­ wich, Westerly, Bristol, Warren and Barrington-in the district of Newport. The two last-mentioned places were to be served by the Bame surveyor. The fact that all of the minor parts of the state save Pawtuxet were placed within the Newport customs district clearly indicates the relative importance in which the two leading towns of the state were held at that time in the judgment of the national offi­ cials. The relinquishment of the customs and tonnage revenues to the general government at that time was a matter of considerable impor­ tance to the state, 88 its ordinary revenues must necessarily be dimin­ ished by tbeir loss. The town of Providence, which had labored 80 zealously to secure the adoption of the constitution, discovered that an important public work, necessary to its continued commercial growth, was likely to be held up by the diversion of the port revenues to the national treasury. In January, 1790, the general assembly incorporated the River Machine Company for the purpose of dredging Providence river ond improving its navigation. To reJDUnernte the company for its work, and to pay the expense of building "the. mud machine", the act provided for a duty of two cents a ton on all vessels of above sixty tons arriving at the port. It appears that the company had just begun the work of dredging, and had realized but sixty dollars in duties, when the acceptance of the constitution put a tempo­ rary stop to the work. The company directed its president and secre­ tary to petition Congress for a continuation of the subsidy, and to secure the aid of the congressmen from the state in the matter. In a letter from Obadiah Brown, secretary of the company, to Senator Theodore Foster, dated August 2d, 1790,1 he states that the river shoaled perceivably every year or two, and had been several feet deeper during the memory of man; that owing to the filling up of the channel, all large vessels were obliged to unload part of their cargo at the "Crook", which in the icy season was dangerous, the scows sometimes taking in water to the damage of the goods, and sometimes sinking ,vith the whole property on board; that there were a larger number of vessels belonging to the port than belonged to New York; that it was a place of more navigation than any of its size in the Union; that it was no chimera that, the exertions of a.rt excepted, the time was fast ap­ proaching when Providence could be a port no longer; and that the machine and scow was then lying idle C'in this very wormy river", awaiting the legislation necessary to set it dredging again.